About 2 months ago, I noticed my facebook news feed bombarded with people doing the "30 day song challenge". Since it had to do with music/songwriting, It caught my eye. It's pretty basic, within the course of 3o days, you pick out a song every day based on whatever criteria the "challenge" calls for, i.e; your favorite song, a song you hate, a song by your favorite band, etc. many of the criterion were basic, subjective, or juvenile at first but began to get a tad bit more complex as the days went on. (For the record, I still haven't done it, the rules are contained in a facebook fan page you can "like" if you so desire) One of the day's criteria is to name a song that reminds you of your childhood. I immediately came to this:
If we go back in time, the best place to stop the Mental delorean would be the summer of 1991. I kept seeing videos for "Check the Rhime" and, if I recall correctly, "Buggin Out" on Yo! MTV Raps. My musical tastes were just starting to develop, and I had for one reason or another embraced hip hop as my go-to genre. When I heard the song embedded therein, the warm, ephemeral horn refrain, the echo-y snare, the rhymes, ...It changed my life. I hadn't heard anything like it up to then, and I'm not yet convinced there's ever going to be another piece of music that'll make me feel the way I did the first time I heard this song. I wanted to go to linden boulevard and rock starter jerseys w/ tip and phife. Record company people were shady. The marriage between old and new was somehow subtle and understated while creating a sense of urgency at the same time; The Low End Theory as a whole seemed to beckon a "This is our time" call. I always knew this but I don't really think I knew how to say what I've just said until now. The timing couldn't be better. Michael Rappaport's doc Beats, Rhymes, and Life hits the streets in just a few short days, as it's set to premiere here in Austin on July 29th.
If we go back in time, the best place to stop the Mental delorean would be the summer of 1991. I kept seeing videos for "Check the Rhime" and, if I recall correctly, "Buggin Out" on Yo! MTV Raps. My musical tastes were just starting to develop, and I had for one reason or another embraced hip hop as my go-to genre. When I heard the song embedded therein, the warm, ephemeral horn refrain, the echo-y snare, the rhymes, ...It changed my life. I hadn't heard anything like it up to then, and I'm not yet convinced there's ever going to be another piece of music that'll make me feel the way I did the first time I heard this song. I wanted to go to linden boulevard and rock starter jerseys w/ tip and phife. Record company people were shady. The marriage between old and new was somehow subtle and understated while creating a sense of urgency at the same time; The Low End Theory as a whole seemed to beckon a "This is our time" call. I always knew this but I don't really think I knew how to say what I've just said until now. The timing couldn't be better. Michael Rappaport's doc Beats, Rhymes, and Life hits the streets in just a few short days, as it's set to premiere here in Austin on July 29th.
When I take my seat around midnight next friday morning, It'll all come full-circle. Not just my love for Tribe, but my love for Hip-Hop, not as genre but as an artform. For definition, not just of the music we love but of the childhood/adolescence/adulthood of the dude writing this blog post; It's a heavy-handed statement to say that tribe made me who I am, but as I look at the screen next week it'll be every bit as reaffirming.
-Marty.
